UN communications chief proposes integrated structure amid debate over disinformation

The UN’s communications department should strengthen its planning, use technology more effectively and maintain accurate information in multiple languages, its head told a UN committee as delegates debated disinformation and access to digital tools.

Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, presented a report proposing that the department organise its work around three pillars: strategy and planning; news and media; and outreach. The aim, she said, is to connect planning, content production, distribution and impact measurement in a single workflow.

Fleming said an independent review found the department’s mandates remained relevant, while calling for stronger strategic planning and closer coordination between its headquarters and field offices. She said the department had begun testing integrated working through an Activation Lab launched in June.

During the UN General Assembly’s High-level Week, teams worked from one strategy and a shared set of messages rather than planning coverage separately, Fleming said. Traffic to the general debate website rose by 42 per cent, she added, and the department saw strong engagement from young people.

Delegates raised concerns about information manipulation, foreign interference, hate speech and unequal access to technology. The European Union’s representative backed the UN Global Principles for Information Integrity and said partnerships with civil society, independent media and academia were essential. Uruguay, speaking for the Group of 77 and China, also stressed the need to bridge the digital divide and combat misinformation and disinformation.

Russia’s representative, speaking for the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, called for balanced coverage reflecting the positions of all member states. He also warned that the concentration of technological power among a small number of private companies could deepen developing countries’ dependence and undermine their digital sovereignty.

Fleming said UN Web TV covers side-events on a cost-recovery basis and that all member states are treated equally, with decisions not based on topics or themes. Cuba’s delegate had asked how the service prevents politically motivated use.

Spain’s representative, speaking for the Group of Friends of Spanish, said multilingualism was essential to multilateralism and should not be treated as a budget line that could be sacrificed. She said Spanish is spoken by more than 600 million people worldwide and is the second most-used language in the UN’s digital ecosystem.